How old was I when I first seen old Rivers?
I can't remember when he weren't around
Well, that old fellow did a heap of work
Spent his whole life walkin’ plowed ground
He had a one-room shack not fer from us
And well, we was about as poor as him
He had one old mule he called Midnight
And I'd trailed along after them
He used to plow them rows straight and deep
And I'd come along near behind
A-bustin' up clods with my own bare feet
Old Rivers was a friend of mine
The sun'd get high and that mule would work
And old Rivers finally say, ''Whoa! ''
He'd wipe his brow, lean back on the reins
And talk about a place he was gonna go
He'd say, “One of these days
I'm gonna climb that mountain
Walk up there among them clouds
Where the cotton's high
And the corn's a-growin'
And there ain't no fields to plow”
(Instrumental Break)
I got a letter today from the folks back home
And they're all fine, crops is dry
Down near the end my mama said
“Son, you know’d old Rivers died''
Just sittin' here now on this new-plowed earth
Trying to find me a little shade
With the sun beatin’ down across the fields I see
That mule, old Rivers and me
Now, one of these days
I'm gonna climb that mountain
Walk up there among them clouds
Where the cotton's high
And the corn's a-growin'
And there ain't no fields to plow
With the sun beating down across the field I see
That mule, old Rivers and me
